Anyone who still needs persuading regarding the potential of 3D to re-energise flagging film brands need look no further than the current success of Lionsgate's Saw 3D. Having peaked in 2006 with Saw III, which opened with £2.52m, debuts for the Halloween staple dipped slightly for the fourth and fifth instalments, before diving to £1.74m with Saw VI. Now episode seven arrives with an opening salvo of £3.6m, including £659,000 in previews. Even with the Thursday takings stripped out, that's comfortably the biggest-ever opening for a Saw movie. Rival studio Paramount will be hoping for a similar uplift when it releases Jackass 3D on Friday.

The loser

Considering it distributed the first two entries in the Saw franchise, it must have been moderately galling for the UK's independently owned Entertainment Films to be facing off against Saw 3D for the release of its latest production, Burke and Hare. The black comedy from John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) landed in sixth place with £943,000, including £178,000 in previews. That's by no means a flop, but given the British setting and largely British cast, the result doesn't bode well for the international rollout.

As a leading man, star Simon Pegg has been on a commercial downwards slide since Hot Fuzz opened in February 2007 with £5.92m including £1.56m in previews. Entertainment Films's own Run Fatboy Run debuted in September of that year with £2.01m including £163,000 in previews, topping the box-office charts for four straight weeks. How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, based on the comic memoir by journalist Toby Young, began its run in October 2008 with £1.15m. Maybe these numbers simply reflect the varying allure of the overall packages – despite all his detractors, Young will be relieved that he's seemingly more appealing to the public than convicted body-snatcher William Burke. So there's a comfort.

Half-term report

With the October half-term holiday now ended, it's clear that Despicable Me was the undisputed winner in the battle for the family audience. Universal's 3D animation dipped less than 1% from the previous weekend, and has grossed £15.07m after 17 days. Over the 10-day holiday period (Friday 22 October – Sunday 31 October), it picked up just over £10m. Its nearest competitor, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, trailed far behind, with £2.18m over the holiday period.

Despite a weak opening of £435,000 plus £208,000 in previews, Alpha and Omega picked up steam throughout the half-term holiday, increasing at the weekend by 7%. Films that are not first choice can often experience an uptick as families move on to a second cinema visit, and the wolf cub animation benefited from its appeal to very young children who might be scared by the warring owls. Its cumulative total now stands at £2.01m. Africa United, however, failed to enjoy a similar bounce, dropping 41% from its disappointing opening, for a total of £546,000. The absence of a clear target audience was an evident handicap.

The arthouse shakeup

With back-to-back weekend declines of 27% and 30%, The Social Network seemingly isn't holding up as strongly as you might expect from a film with such strong appeal to sophisticated adult audiences. However, you have to look at its weekday numbers to see the whole picture. In the past seven days, it added £2.51m, with only £1.07m of that coming from Friday-Saturday-Sunday. While teens traditionally visit plexes on Friday and Saturday, mature audiences are more spread out across the week in their cinemagoing habits.

Despite the dominance of The Social Network, the market accommodated the arrival of upscale comedy The Kids Are All Right, starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Released by Universal on an aggressive 203 screens, it opened with £412,000, for a site average of £2,029. That's not an exciting number for such a critically approved, awards-worthy film, but it's likely that grosses varied wildly across the run, and the screen average would have been much higher with a 60-print release targeting Picturehouses, Curzons and key multiplexes with a proven track record in non-mainstream fare. The film is likely to hold up midweek, and audience word-of-mouth should sustain a run of decent length, although it's likely to shed a fair few of its under-performing sites before too long.

The future

With five films posting tallies of £1m-plus, the market rose 5% from the previous weekend, although it also fell 3% from the equivalent frame from 2009, when Michael Jackson's This Is It opened with £4.88m. The end of half-term means that family films are now likely to dip, and Saw pictures traditionally experience rapid drop-offs, too. Cinemas will be pinning hopes on Due Date, from The Hangover director Todd Phillips; Let the Right One In remake Let Me In; Jackass 3D, and Mike Leigh's latest well-regarded picture Another Year. Even if none of these titles catch fire, advance sales on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, arriving 19 November, should provide welcome distraction.